“Would you hurt me?” I ask, since it seems like the right thing to, even though Levi would never.
“Fuck no.”
“Do we share classes?”
“No, we’re in different degrees.” I’m in computer science, and he’s in business.
“Have we ever spoken before?”
“No.”
All lies.
“You’re trusting my word?” His voice sharpens again. “Your survival instincts suck.”
My head thumps with this confusion. Hunter recommending I ask him as Levi, but then hesitant to agree because he’s a ‘stranger’ is extremely strange.
“What about not coming to my house? A third-party location could work, so there’s no fear of letting a stranger into my place.” My eyes roll, disbelieving I’m going this far. “I’m going awaywith Levi in a week.”With you.“To the coast, where his family owns a resort. Meet me there?”
Logistically, it works. Levi can continue his façade of being two separate people on the same trip.
“I’ll have a private cabana,” I continue, though he’s aware of my living situation.
On the other side of the phone, he shifts, sighs, and replies in a heavy voice, like he’s wary. “I’ll do it. If you’re absolutely sure you can trust a near-stranger over your best friend with this.”
“I am.” I’m the poster child for what parents train their teenagers not to do.
“Text me the details. I’ll see if I can make it work.”
“And if you can?” I ask, a bit breathless, curious how he’ll respond.
“Then you’ll be mine for however long I can keep you, and I won’t share. With anyone. That goes for your friend. So, Summer, last chance. If you want to do this with me and not Levi, this is your opportunity to back out.”
It’s like a switch has been flicked on his personality, and I’m seeing yet another side of him—the possessive side. He’s always been protective of me, but not likethis. The thudding that makes my heart fly, the crush it has always had growing. His ability to light up my past and prove the monsters I believe are under the bed aren’t real.
Could I seriously do this with Levi while he pretends to be the version I can call my own?
“I want you.”
“Good,” he growls. “Your body, mind, and soul are mine. You’ll reclaim your agency, and I’ll replace your father’s touch with my own. My body, my scent; pain you ask for and pleasure you beg for.”
My stomach is in so many knots, it’ll become the rope I secretly hope he uses on me. “That’s…Yes. Thank you, Hunter.”
He chuckles darkly. “Don’t thank me yet. In the meantime, consider your limits. We’ll talk when you arrive.”
“Like a safe word?”
“Safe words. Acts you won’t consent to. Your pain tolerance. You want it to seem real, but it’snotreal—and that’s the point. The second it seems too real, it stops. I care for you too much, Sunshine. Now, go to bed and get some rest. I’ll see you soon.”
The call dies, and I lower my cell. For the first time since the judge’s gavel hit the rostrum, something other than disgust and hatred fills me.
The promise of freedom.
SEVEN
LEVI
After hanging up,I slip out of bed and toss my phone onto the mattress. It bounces hard; if only it’d crash to the floor. If my phone is useless, then maybe I’ll stop making such stupid fucking mistakes.